Mulier Aridus
"Aloft even in quietus..." —Somnium Fluxus Aquila '(アクイラ, ''Akuira), more often referred to by her alias, '''Mulier Aridus (アリデスムリヤ, Aridesu Muriya; "Arid Woman"), is an ancient, once forgotten Nefas alchemist once affiliated with Diluculum Sanctus for a very short period of time. For reasons yet unexplained, she has recently resurfaced as an ally of the newly-formed Espada, serving directly under Grimmjow Jaegerjaquez. Her real name is unknown, having been long lost in history even to herself. She hails from the same family as the founder Glacies and is believed by Glacies Fidus to have been his twin sister. Regarded as little than a fabrication of Nefas lore by even the most astute historians, her living existence unknown to even fellow ancient Nefas of Diluculum Sanctus, Aquila's true name is rarely heard outside of olden fables which depict her abhorrent experiments on Nefas, Hollows, Quincy, Animae Casi, Venatores Scientiarum, and even Shinigami—few spiritual races have escaped her inquisitive eye. Aquila's parents were the ones responsible for unearthing the ruins containing the statue of Velia Agostinha Vivax, and were mysteriously cursed by a lingering presence for their transgression; this curse would be passed on to all of their children, Aquila included. Aquila foretold Agostinha's betrayal and abandoned Diluculum Sanctus in secrecy long before its destruction, seeking nothing but liberation from her terminal illness and the power that could be gained from briefly associating herself with the collective. Following this, she became an influence working within obscurity, perfecting her alchemy and resuming her studies and experiments while remaining anonymous to Soul Society, a task she simplified by using a massive collection of subjugated Shinigami to carry out her duties and serve as her eyes whilst she remained sealed within the ruins. It is said that it was from her that Fabien, a colleague of Silvio da Parma, acquired his extensive knowledge of Animae Casi. One of her final and most notorious acts whilst hidden was to resurrect her fallen brother in the form Glacies Aestatis using an Anima Casus soul fragment of her brother along with an abandoned fragment of Agostinha's soul. A hugely nihilistic individual, Aquila desires little more than to explore the realm of possibility as much as possible before her impending demise. As a woman responsible for meddling with the very laws of spiritual nature and using remnants of multiple spiritual races to conjure entities of such despotic nature that not even legends of her sorcery can properly depict, Aquila is, as often agreed upon by unaffiliated Nefas who know of her existence, a greater menace to both physical and spiritual societies than even the likes of Randa Primarosa. Appearance Personality History Powers and Abilities Regarded as the most dangerous Nefas in existence, Aquila's true power lies not in her capabilities in battle, but in her Soul Alchemy—her ability to synthesize horrific entities with powers of her choosing as well as her unprecedented mastery of Anima Obscuritas that allows her to command hordes of subjects to do her bidding from any distance and see through their eyes, giving her a constant presence all throughout the Human World, Hueco Munco, and certain regions of So ul Society. She is one of only two known Mater sorcerers other than Agostinha, the other being Randa. While Aquila's power is indeed vastly superior to that of an average Nefas, it does not compare to living legends such as Randa and Eriphyla. she has little experience in battle and her illness prevents her from fighting for even short periods of time without being driven to exhaustion. In addition, she is slow to regain her strength, requiring long periods of inactivity before she is able to venture out of her confines on her own. She is known only by the countless faces of those who have fallen victim to her influence. Natural Abilities High Spiritual Power: Despite being a Nefas, Aquila is known to possess a fairly high Reiatsu. For those few who have met Aquila in person, her Reiatsu is noted to possess some attribute of “emptiness.” Those within its reach often find themselves unable to pinpoint its direction even when it is fully released. Aquila's Reiatsu dilutes all sound in its radius and darkens her surroundings, meaning it can actually be used to aid her allies in some situations. Her Reiatsu is clear and colorless. Enhanced Focus and Perception: Aquila's focus well transcends that of mortal understanding. Even by Nefas standards, Aquila's aptitude to retain all awareness of her surroundings while being constantly in complete control of her thralls is a nearly unimaginable feat. Not only can Aquila puppeteer each and every one of her thralls down to the smallest detail, but she can immediately recall their experiences as though she were actually there beside them, indicating her degree of omnipresence as far as the minds of her thralls go. Even when Aquila herself is forced into battle, the use of Nefas abilities such as Manus Tenax seems to have little effect on her control and awareness over her subjects. By her own claim, Aquila is capable of controlling up to over one hundred thousand thralls at any one time, but chooses to retain a much smaller number for safety purposes. Genius-Level Intellect: Aquila's greatest weapon is without a doubt her monumental level of intelligence, often compared to that of the late founder Glacies as well as Eriphyla. Aquila is particularly notable for being the only Nefas who easily predicted Agostinha's betrayal during her time in Diluculum Sanctus. Even in the present day, Aquila has remained one of the few individuals capable of predicting Agostinha's erratic actions to a degree, an impressive feat considering that she has had no known interaction with the presumed deity. Aquila's intellect is what has allowed her to remain hidden from the public eye for thousands of years, invisible and unknown to even the likes of Randa. Fitting with her mastery of Anima Obscuritas, Aquila possesses a vast understanding of the sentient mind and has little trouble reading into an individual's true emotions, no matter how mysterious they may seem to others; this is exemplified by Aquila's claim of having little interest in Randa as a result of having gained a full understanding of her from observation alone. As a Soul Alchemist with tens of thousands of individuals under her command at any one time, Aquila is particularly devious, using her resources to observe an enemy of interest from a distance until she has gained enough of an understanding of their capabilities, after which she constructs an entity to serve as a definitive answer to any advantages said enemy might have over her otherwise. Aquila requires very little information to determine an individual's threat level and potential abilities of theirs, with merely their general behavior being sufficient to draw an accurate hypothesis. As a result of her abilities, there is very little Aquila does not know regarding the inner workings of every known spiritual realm. *'Master of Manipulation:' Pactum Anima As a Nefas Gehennae, Aquila's Pactum Anima is quite limited compared to that of other Nefas species, being barely beyond the level of a competent Nefas Falsus. Nethertheless, Aquila's Pactum Anima remains a valuable tool for self-defense, her dominance over wind sorcery in particular. Moderate Pactum Anima Control: Aquila has at least shown that her control over Pactum Anima is above average, being capable of switching to Anima Obscuritas in less than two seconds. Corpus Ubique Praesens Practitioner: Aquila's skill in the application of Corpus Ubique Praesens is above average for a Nefas Gehenna; it is known to be one of preferred Pactum Anima techniques owing to its versatility and quick means of travel. She is capable of teleporting quite rapidly in succession, at a rate of around ten times in a single second, and can keep up with rudimentary Shunpo masters with this technique alone. While Aquila can only teleport a short physical distance away from her current location, she has somehow learned to traverse dimensions much earlier than would normally be expected. *'Corpus Tremor:' Volatus Practitioner: Mens Albus Practitioner: Vicēs Ventus Expert: Anima Obscuritas Manus Tenax Master: * Sectator Flectere: Mater Novus Relationships Grimmjow Jaegerjaquez Alcyonē Glacies Fidus Quotes "So the Nefas of old know me as Mulier Aridus? Then it is time I showed them the Arid Woman as I always viewed her." Trivia * Images drawn by the author. * "Aquila" is Latin for "Eagle." * Biologically speaking, Aquila is the youngest ancient Nefas. * Mulier Aridus is modeled after a character belonging to one of the author's indie games. ** Parts of her design were used for Randa, hence they wear similar boots; although there is an in-story reason for this. Category:Female Category:Nefas Category:Diluculum Sanctus